announcement

At the one-year anniversary of my appointment as director of NIMHD, I’m excited to welcome you to our new blog, NIMHD Insights.

NIMHD leads scientific research in two distinct but overlapping areas: minority health and health disparities. But first of all, what do these terms mean?

Minority health concerns the health of the five U.S. racial and ethnic minorities who have historically faced discrimination and social disadvantage. These groups are defined by the U.S. Census and include African Americans/Blacks, Latinos/Hispanics, Asians, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders. All of these populations are usually not included as participants of all types of biomedical research and most are also underrepresented as members of the scientific workforce. At NIMHD, we are committed to addressing health issues within each of the minority groups independent of whether the outcome is worse, better or similar to that of the White comparison group. We value research that emphasizes mechanisms by which health differs within these race/ethnic groups, as well as comparisons to each other and Whites.